renegade4x4

Just completed this and it was easy i will post up later when i test it out in the dark! It only took maybe 20 min and a hack saw blade. I got the parts off of ebay for like 15.27 shipped. A dremel would have made it even easier. I just cut off the original bulb and harness.

Here is the stuff off of ebay,

Harness

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/H11-H...lenotsupported

Bulb

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...lenotsupported

rockthebeef

I finally did this mod yesterday. I only had to widen one of the slots to get the bulb to fit. I took the assembly in the house and used a small flathead screwdriver that I heated on the stove to make the slot wider. Worked like a charm. I have yet to test this light in the dark but it definitely looks brighter already. It generates quite a bit of heat, but I honestly don't know how hot the stock bulb got. I don't think it should not be a problem.

I'm thinking of getting a 7000k-ish H8 instead so it gives off more of a white/blue light.

Thanks again for the great idea ScionFred!

rockthebeef

I finally did this mod yesterday. I only had to widen one of the slots to get the bulb to fit. I took the assembly in the house and used a small flathead screwdriver that I heated on the stove to make the slot wider. Worked like a charm. I have yet to test this light in the dark but it definitely looks brighter already. It generates quite a bit of heat, but I honestly don't know how hot the stock bulb got. I don't think it should not be a problem.

I'm thinking of getting a 7000k-ish H8 instead so it gives off more of a white/blue light.

Thanks again for the great idea ScionFred!

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

I'm happy to see more people doing my first original DIY mod. Prior to this I just stole other people's mods.

jthistle

You could also use an H8 LED bulb.

rockthebeef

That crossed my mind. I've tried the 48 SMT LED 7440 bulb in the past and it wasn't suitable. The LED H8 on v-leds.com has 68 LEDs - 41% more than what I tried. The thing with the 7440 LED was that it looked great but did not throw the light very far. In other words, they're very bright if you look into the light, but they don't do much to project light forward. They H8 LED might be good enough. But who knows? It might work pretty well, but I don't feel like shelling out $60 to be the guinea pig (again). I've done that twice already. If you try it and it works well I will buy the 2nd bulb from you.



edited for typo

jthistle

This is the one I was going to try.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2-PCS...91910006r23550

rockthebeef

Cool. I wonder how much brighter the SMDs are then the SMTs. Good luck!

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

Don't bother. Just get a 7440 LED intstead and save yourself the trouble and expense. Even the brightest LED bulb replacements aren't half as bright as a incandescent 21W 7440 (400 lumens).

schpadoinkle

wow man... great idea!!! looks like i might even be able to pull off this one

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Is there a difference in resulting visibility, or just beam color?

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Aargh! I just tried to install the Ebay H8 bulb to the housing and I'm looking at three mounting prongs on the bulb, not four . Kind of typical of my luck these days, but I'd appreciate learning how you worked around this in your install.

Thanks -- Trevor

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

All H8 bulbs have 3 prongs but fit if you just enlarge one of the 4 slots in the housing a little bit. Rockthebeef's idea to use a heated screwdriver is a good one. All you have to do is enlarge the opening just enough so the H8 will slide into the the housing and it will lock tightly with a little twist.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Thanks Fred, for some reason I was under the impression your bulb had four tabs.

It's done now and secure. Unfortunately, I managed to fixate on the standard clockwise rotation to secure the bulb, and the only way I came up with achieving that involved adjusting three slots. I swear, if a task can be made as difficult as possible, I'll probably come up with an approach that's at least reminiscent . I used the cut and solder approach for the wiring and the bulb definitely looks bright, even in broad daylight on a sunny day.

Thanks again !

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

I'm glad it worked out for you. If it makes you feel any better, I adjusted 3 slots and 2 tabs on the bulbs to get mine to fit. Cut and solder is probably the best method. Although I could easily go back to the stock 7440, I can't imagine any reason to do so. I'd still like something even brighter but I can live with the H8 vs all the work required to adapt anything brighter.

TrevorS

iTrader: (1)

Oh my gosh, you also adjusted three slots? That does make me feel better ! Yes, my old four pronger also still locks in fine, but given I completely removed the OE plug-in, it probably makes little difference -- at least you still have both !. In case there's any interest at all in my solution, here's a photo showing the material I removed in order to satisfy my "fixation" . However, since it appears to remove more housing material than yours, I'm certainly not suggesting it's the optimal solution.




Like you said earlier, running a separate line from the battery to seriously illuminate the area would probably be most effective, but I'm very happy to double the light output with your solution.

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

IMO whatever works for the individual modder, given the tools available to him/her, is the optimal solution. Luckily it's pretty easy to fit an H8 bulb into our oem housing. I was very lucky with "eyeballing" a ~35W halogen bulb that would fit. Although I still have a 37W 894 bulb that "looked' close enough at the parts store but turned out to be too small unless glued in with rtv.

CIONIDE

iTrader: (1)

Nice mod ScionFred, I finally did it yesterday, and it produces significantly more light.
I think my camera exaggerates the difference a little, but it is a very noticeable improvement.
Thanks for figuring this out, and posting the DIY.
Oh, and thanks for the harness too. :D

Stock reverse light bulb


New H8 35 watt halogen bulb

ScionFred

iTrader: (1)

Cool, another XB2 backs into the light...

You're very welcome, CIONIDE. I'll be bugging you about new shoes and sox for my ride in the near future.

elwaylite

iTrader: (1)

Gonna do this. Fred, what auto parts store did you get the harness and bulb?